Journey to the End of Time
by Sarroush
Summary: Regina's magic is slowly killing her and no one knows why. A disheartened Emma decides that the only way to save her lover is to stop her from learning magic altogether. What does this mean? Time travel. Can Emma save Regina without changing history? Can they really have their happily ever after with no sacrifice? A SwanQueen fic.
1. The Price of Magic

**A/N:** Hi folks! I really shouldn't be doing this since I have a few other fics that need updating and all that jazz, but I just can't help it! I really wanted to write an OUAT, SwanQueen fic, since the likelyhood of having them officially pair off is near impossible :( That makes me a very sad panda. The chapter was done in relatively short time so I apologize if the quality isn't all that great. I'll reread and see if it needs rewriting in a few days. This will be rated M for profanity and sexual content in upcoming chapters.

Alrighty, have a nice read and a fun ride!

P.S: The line breaks are acting up for some reason. It happened yesterday with another of my stories too. So forgive me if you see double lines, or no lines at all!

Yep. After publishing, I noticed line breaks missing. Will add **xoxoxoxoxoxoxo **just in case, even though it's ugly :(

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><p>She was startled awake when she was thrown off the bed. She grunting, knowing what had just happened. Her lover's magic had kicked her off their bed yet again. Getting up on her feet, she went back into bed, and tried to nudge the victim of countless nightmares awake.<p>

"Regina, babe, it's just a dream," Emma whispered, as she gently tapped on her shoulder. The sleeping woman was groaning and grunting nonsensically, but Emma could tell it was pretty bad. Sweat was dripping from her forehead, her eyes were shut tight, she was mumbling and gripping the bed sheets.

The saviour wrapped her arms as best she could around her lover. It had been weeks now that Regina was losing control of her magic. Nightmares were plaguing her and Emma had no idea how to help. Gently placing kisses on the older woman's cheek and neck, she managed to calm her down.

Breathing into the crook of her lover's neck, she whispered to the woman in her arms, "I'm here, Regina. I'm here."

Before even opening her eyes, she knew she was alone in bed. Panic struck her, but was quickly died down when she smelled breakfast being cooked and Henry's loud voice recounting something to his mother.

**xoxoxoxoxoxoxo **

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><p>Slowly making her way down the stairs, she heard Regina let out a question, "Do you want me to take you to school today, Henry?"<p>

"Nah. I'm good. You should stay home and figure out what's going on with you, mom."

Before Regina could respond, Emma walked into the kitchen. "Morning, folks!"

"Hi Ma!" The now 14 year old smiled, putting a piece of toast in his mouth. "You guys play nice! I gotta head out or I'll be late! See you later!"

He was out of the house in mere instances before either of the women could say anything. Regina smiled quietly at her son's energy. Lately, she'd been so drained, so exhausted, in so so so much pain, and very pale. She felt like zombie. Seeing Henry happy, healthy and active meant the world to her.

"Hey," a husky voice brought her back to the present. Emma placed a hand on her cheek, bringing their lips together. Regina fervently kissed back, craving more of Emma's mouth, her touch, her moans. The younger woman snaked a hand behind Regina, landing it on the small of her back, holding her in place. Once their lips parted for air, Regina gripped the blonde's shirt, hiding her face in the crook of the woman's neck.

"Emma," she whispered.

"I'm here, Regina," Emma assured as she held onto the woman tighter.

"Emma...I'm scared," it was rare for Regina to admit it, even now, but in Emma's arms, she felt safe and knew she would never be judged or seen as weak.

"I know. I promise you we'll figure this out, no matter what."

After a few moments passed in silence, Regina looked to her.

"Breakfast."

"Hm? What about it?"

She freed herself from Emma's grasp and went to grab some plates. "You need to eat something." She placed the pieces of bacon, scrambled eggs and toast, with a side of fresh berries.

"Bacon? You doin' okay babe?" Emma let out with a silly grin.

"Given how much of your time I've been taking up lately, I thought a little reward wouldn't be too bad."

Though it was said in jest, Emma took it seriously. She moved over to Regina and wrapped her arms around her once more. "Every minute I spend with you is worth it."

Regina placed her hands on her lover's waist and brought their lips together for a chaste but loving kiss. "You're going to be late."

"Dun' matter! The Mayor's the one paying me after all," she grinned, only to face a raised eyebrow. She knew going along with her plan of teasing Regina would probably not be the best. "Alright alright!" She quickly ate the food on her plate. "I'm off. I really don't like leaving you though."

Regina's expression relaxed. "I know, but I'll be fine. I'm not in any pain at the moment. I think it's simply some excess magic running amok. It'll go away soon. Don't worry about it, Emma."

"I can't not worry, Regina! It's been three weeks! I'm..."

"Late."

"What?"

"You're late for work. Or going to be. Get a move on before I decide to cut your salary!"

"Yes ma'am!" She made a run to the door, grabbed her keys and turned around briefly. Regina nodded. Emma took this as a sign that she'd be fine for the day until she got back home.

Emma and Regina had been together for a little over a year, but their love for each other was unmistakably real. When Robin chose Marian over Regina, the ex-Evil Queen was so heartbroken that her heart had frozen over. Literally. Okay, Elsa did have a role in all of it, but those are unnecessary details. The gist of the situation was that only true love could thaw a frozen heart. Robin, much to a very reluctant Marian, tried helping, but to no avail.

It didn't make much sense. Wasn't Robin supposed to be Regina's True Love? At least according to a certain green fairy. With a little research and prodding Tinkerbelle to admit that the fairy dust maybe could have had a 0.0000001% chance of being wrong, Emma and the group concluded that Robin in fact was not Regina's True Love.

Eventually, much to everyone's surprise, they had found out that Emma, who had secretly been in love with the Queen was her True Love. Once the Saviour had thawed the older woman's heart...Well, it wasn't rainbows and daisies that's for sure. Regina was in downright denial. Emma had taken Robin from her and now she was expected to believe they were meant to be? That wasn't going to happen any time soon. So, Emma spent a good few months trying to woo Regina. She tried courting her properly, treating her like a Queen and letting her have Henry as often as she wanted, minus the exaggerated "I want him with me 24/7," to which she had to deny access. However, she did mention that if they were to end up together, Regina could have Henry to her for that long.

At the beginning, Regina had decided that it wouldn't be too bad an idea to go along with it. If she pretended to be in love with Emma, she could have Henry all to herself. So that's what she did. She pretended that she'd fallen in love with the woman. This lasted for a month. Emma was uncertain as to why Regina wasn't being physically intimate with her as deeply as she had wanted to, but she never pressed the older woman on it. A few nights after their first month together however, Emma overheard Regina talking to one of the new residents, Hans. The conversation went along the lines of Regina tricking Emma into thinking she was in love with her, when all she wanted was Henry. When Emma confronted her about it, heartbroken, Regina didn't know what to say. The Saviour took her son and left. Spending even a single night without Emma proved to be very difficult for the raven haired woman. So much so that on the second day, she had to admit it to herself. Admit that she had just been lying to keep her heart safe. She was in love with Emma. So so in love that it scared her. Terrified her. She'd given herself to Robin only to be heartbroken. She didn't want it to happen again!

She went back to Emma the next night and poured her heart out to the younger woman who very easily mellowed out, understanding why she'd want to keep herself safe like that. They made up and that's when their relationship really kicked off. It was a bit awkward at first, but Regina learned to open herself up more and more to the younger woman, to the point of even being able to cry in front of her.

Now that a year had passed, they were as thick as thieves, and it seemed as though the residents of Storybrooke had forgotten what the Evil Queen had done to them in the past, because most of them had been able to befriend her. So what caused her current situation? Her magic going rampant, pain coursing through her constantly? No one knew. No one knew, and that is why Emma did something she thought she never would again. Willingly went to Rumpelstiltskin for help. Regina hadn't wanted it. She was tired of dealing with magic and always paying a price. That's why she assumed this was her price. The pain she felt was the pain of all the people she had killed over the years. She tried to justify what she was going through, but Emma would not agree. Regina didn't deserve what she was going through.

So instead of going to work, after leaving the house, she made her way to the pawnshop as subtly as possible.

"Miss Swan," Mr. Gold nodded, cleaning the glass case he was standing next to.

"Help me," she let out as she took big strides to stand right in front of him.

"I would maybe consider helping if you asked nicely."

"Please help me" she drawled, clearly annoyed. She hated asking him for help. Not because of his prices. No. It was because if he agreed to help you, that meant he had something in mind that would benefit him.

"With what do you need help, Miss Swan? The Evil Queen's unfortunate predicament perhaps?"

"Do not call her that!" She snarled. It wasn't an exaggeration to say that Mr. Gold had become a much better person. He clearly cared for Henry, and finding Neal had changed him for the better. However, after Neal's death, he'd slowly begun to seclude himself, feeling there was no point to living. Emma felt as though he was returning to his former self, no matter how hard Belle was trying to help him.

"My apologies. I did not mean to offend. Regina's losing control of her magic, correct?"

The Saviour nodded. "I'm not sure what's going on. She has bursts of uncontrollable magic and is in constant pain...As though..."

"As though the magic is ripping through her, trying to burst free."

Emma simply nodded again.

"I can't help you, Miss Swan."

"The hell do you mean you can't?!"

"I'm uncertain as to what the problem is. Regina's had magic for over two decades. There is no reason for her to be losing control of it now of all times unless for some reason she had a massive amount of excess magic in her. And there is no explanation as to where she could have procured so much magic especially given the limited amount of magic we have in this world."

Emma groaned in frustration. She had no idea what was going on with Regina and how to help. Stupid magic! Magic was always at fault! If only it didn't exist! If only Regina didn't have any!

"Wait...That's it. That's it!"

"Miss Swan?"

"If she never had magic, she'd never have to go through this! We just have to stop her from learning magic! We just have to stop her from going to you for help!"

"Miss Swan...There are a lot of problems with your plan."

"I don't care. Give me something to time travel with!"

Mr. Gold let out a deep sigh, "Do you realize how preposterous this sounds? It took Zelena an incredible amount of time to even make that possible. And you've already gone to the past once before. Who knows what you'll change if you go now, minus the fact that you'll be changing the entire world when you convince her to not learn magic!"

In her frustration, Emma pushed him to the wall and held him by the collar of his shirt, "You always have a way. ALWAYS! You probably kept something from her. Something that would be able to help me time travel. Gold, you need to help me! Maybe I can even get Neal back!"

The man was clearly conflicted. And he knew that if Regina didn't learn magic, he'd never be able to find Neal again. But did it matter? His son died bringing him back. Neal would have probably been safe if it weren't for everything that happened in Storybrooke, which ultimately meant that Neal was better off if the curse had never happened.

"Let me go and I'll help."

The instant he let it out, he was dropped, Emma fixing his collar for him. "That's the Gold I know!"

Going into the back of the shop, he popped back up moments later with a small sundial in hand.

"What's that?"

"This, Miss Swan, is what's going to help you go back in time. Do you see the dial?" She nodded. "It has to absorb the blood of the person you have to go back in time to."

"What would happen if the person you wanted to get back to was dead?"

"Then you'd be unable to use it. This only works when the person is still alive, or if you've kept a blood vial," he responded matter-of-factly.

"So I need Regina to pierce her finger on this?" He grunted an approval.

"You can use the sundial a total of three times. The first one will be used to go back in time. The second attempt is a failsafe. In case you are unable to get her to change her mind, either go back in time again, to before having met her in that time, or go back further in an attempt to coerce a different self into stopping. The last one is to be used to come back. Do keep in mind that you have to think of the very moment in time you want to go back to. If you think of something too broad, such as 'Before Regina turned into the Evil Queen', you'll be thrown into anywhere between her birth to her taking the title of 'Evil Queen'. Be as precise as possible."

"How long do I have?"

"However long it takes. You could even choose to stay there until the end of time."

"What's the price?" She looked to him with a raised eyebrow. "And how do I use it to begin with?"

He sighed. "Pierce Regina's finger on that, and go back to the barn. There is still residue from Zelena's magic there. It'll open a portal for you. As for the price, I have none. But remember, Miss Swan. Just because I don't have a price for you, doesn't mean magic doesn't have one in store."

She turned around to leave the shop and let out a "Thanks." She'd deal with whatever magic had in store for her after she saved Regina. Now the only problem that remained was finding a way to get Regina's blood without alerting her. Because Emma knew full well that if she told Regina her plan, the older woman would never agree to it.

She spent the rest of the day patrolling the ever so quiet town, until she got a call from Mary Margaret.

"Emma here," she replied, slurping up her milkshake.

"Emma! Thank goodness! Something's wrong!" Mary Margaret was clearly frantic, her voice incredibly high pitched and filled with fear.

"Okay, calm down. What's going on?"

"Regina! It's Regina!"

Putting on the sirens and making a fast u-turn, she made haste to the manor. "What about Regina?!"

"I came to visit her. No one answered the door, so I wondered if she was out. But her car is still here. I poked a look inside and...Emma! She's unconscious in the living room!"

"Is she breathing?"

"..."

"MARY MARGARET! IS SHE BREATHING?!"

"I-I don't know!"

"I'll be there in two minutes!"

And in two minutes, she was. She quickly parked on the side of the street, banged the car door and ran up to the house.

"Emma!"

Grabbing her keys, she opened the door and frantically looked around. She was on the floor, on her stomach. The first thing Emma did was check her pulse. It wasn't strong, but it was there to which she was forever grateful.

"Emma, we need to take her to the hospital!"

"There's no point."

"What do you mean?"

She carried Regina in her arms up to their room as Mary Margaret followed.

"What do you mean, Emma?!"

"Magic is causing this. Whale can't help her."

Gently placing the woman on the bed, she held onto her hand as she sat next to her. It was getting worse. She had to enact her plan and fast, or else she was more than positive Regina would die. Taking out the sundial from her pocket, she brought it closer to Regina's index finger, however stopped when Mary Margaret let out a question.

"What are you doing?"

"I need to change the past."

"What?"

"This sundial will help me go to the past. Stop her from ever learning magic. If she didn't have magic, she wouldn't be going through this!" Emma turned to look at her mother with tears threatening to stain her cheeks.

"If I don't learn magic, I don't exile Snow White. If I don't exile Snow White, she doesn't meet Prince Charming. If she doesn't meet Prince Charming, they don't get married. If they don't get married, you aren't born. If you aren't born, Henry isn't born," the woman on the bed replied with a raspy voice, looking straight at the back of her lover's head. "Emma, look at me."

The blonde turned her head at the request. "No matter what happens to me, Henry will always be my top priority. I can't let you take him from me or from you. What happens if you go back to the past and never come back? What happens then? Henry won't have any parents lef-"

"YOU AREN'T DYING!"

"Oh, Emma..." Regina lifted her hand to cup her crying lover's cheek.

"She's right. You're not dying."

"H-Henry?" Emma let out through her teary hiccups.

The young boy walked over to the other side of his parents' bed, grabbing Regina's free hand. "Mom, you of all people deserves a happy ending. And if we can make it happen, then I think it'll be worth it."

"Henry, why aren't you at school?" Leave it to Regina to always have his best interest in mind even at such crucial moments.

"School ended half an hour ago. Not like it matters right now. You're more important!"

"Henry...If your mom went through with her stupid plan, clearly fabricated by Rumpelstiltskin I should add, and I in fact never learned magic, you wouldn't be here right now. There is a chance neither of you would!"

"I trust her," the young boy let out with conviction. "I know that she'll find a way to make you better and we'll all end up being alive and well and happy."

"Henry you can't have everything!" Regina let out a weak frustrated growl. The Charmings always had this issue! They thought they could have everything, when in fact they couldn't! She knew this first hand. She knew how hard it was to even get ONE thing you wanted, let alone everything!

"I'll make it happen, Regina. I promise."

When she looked to Emma, she knew the younger woman was serious and being completely honest. No matter how implausible, maybe the product of True Love COULD make it happen.

"If what we have is True Love, as lovers, as family, then I know. I know in one way or another, we WILL end up together again, no matter what. If our love for each other is real, then we'll see each other again Regina."

Before Regina could respond, another wave of pain hit her, throwing everyone away from her.

"Emma!" She cried out, the Saviour getting up from her fall and running straight to her.

"Regina, I'm sorry. But I have to do this. Even if you hate me for it. Henry believes in me, I need you to believe too. I'll save our happy ending. I'll save you. I'll save us. So please. Please trust me."

All the weakened witch could do was nod. That was all. That was all she needed. She took her lover's finger, and pierced her skin with the sundial. Blood slowly trickled down onto it, a light of approval indicating that one part of the job was accomplished. Grabbing her gun and phone, she placed a kiss on Regina's lips, gave Henry a messy kiss on the forehead, and looked to her mother.

"Please, take care of them."

Mary Margaret nodded, and uttered two simple words. "Be careful."

That's all Emma needed. Her mother supported her and trusted her. She ran to the car and quickly sped through to Zelena's barn. Once she arrived, she walked into the barn. It was strange. The markings were still there from when they had defeated the wicked witch, gone to the past with Hook and even dealt with Elsa. She decided to take a chance. Placing the sundial in the middle of the circle, she stepped back, thought to the time she wanted to go to and waited. After a few seconds a purple smoke began to rise and slowly transformed into a portal.

"Well, it's now or never. Let's hope I don't fuck up too much."

Nodding to herself, she ran and jumped into the portal.

**xoxoxoxoxoxoxo **

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><p>Groaning awake, she felt someone or something poking her. Opening her eyes, she found men clad in black, prodding her awake with the sheaths of their swords.<p>

Looking around her, she noticed where she was. It'd worked! She was in the Enchanted Forest, even though the time was unconfirmed.

"Get up, pleb," a rough voice let out, kicking her.

"Watch where you're kicking!" She huffed as she got up, not paying much attention to the situation she was in. All that mattered at the moment was that she made it. First order of business? Find Regina! She tried to take a step forward, only to notice that she was being moved on her own.

"What the..." Looking to her left, she saw one of the men clad in black holding her left arm, while the man on her right was holding her right arm. They were both dragging her somewhere.

"Hey! Let go of me!"

"Given you appeared literally out of thin air and landed on one of my men, that's not going to happen," the one at the front of the cavalry let out loudly.

And it was one scary cavalry. All men dressed in black armor with black stallions. "By the way," the leader continued, "Is this yours?" He held up the sundial.

"Hey! Give that back!" She said trying to turn around. But her neck hurt too much.

"It'll be a present for the Queen."

Her ears perked up, "Queen?" She wanted to get as much information as she could before she plotted her escape. "Who's this Queen?"

"The Evil Queen," one of the men holding her let out. That's all it took for Emma to slump down and let them take her wherever. Because she knew full well that Regina was where they were taking her. She also knew that the sundial had fucked her up. If Regina was already the Evil Queen, then she'd already had magic. She needed to get the sundial back and make sure that her words and intentions were a hundred percent clear. She didn't understand how she'd messed up. She'd thought of wanting to see Regina before she learned magic, so why hadn't she been sent to that time instead? She had a feeling that someone, or something, was playing her. 'All Magic comes with a price.' Was using the sundial itself her price? Because if it was, and the price screwed over her second chance? She would probably never be able to go back home.

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><p><strong>AN:** That's the end of chapter 1. I hope you enjoyed! R&R is greatly appreciated! Also, can't wait for S4. Hopefully they don't mess up Frozen too much. I like Elsa ;_; And I'll live with the fact that she's supposed to be the "misunderstood" villain apparently. As long as they don't kill her off or make her fall in love with someone completely random, I think I'll survive!


	2. Mistakes Were Made

**A/N**: Here's chapter 2. Thanks for reviewing/favorite-ing/following/PMing! They all mean a lot!

The chapter is a bit shorter than the last one, but I hope you enjoy.

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><p>"Woah! Hey, wait up! What the hell is the meaning of this?!" She screamed out angrily. They'd imprisoned her! As if that wasn't enough, her arms were chained to the wall behind her and she could only move a few feet. Weren't they supposed to be taking her to Regina?! Goddamnit it! Talk about major complications.<p>

"I can't believe you honestly thought we were just going to take you to the Queen. You aren't worth her time, but this actually might be," the guard showed her the sundial.

"Give that back you little runt! You don't even know what it does!" She snarled back in agitation.

"Hey, Rivers, hold up!" The guard next to him tried to grab his arm but failed. Rivers proceeded to open Emma's cell and stood in front of her for a good few seconds before landing a very strong punch to her stomach, causing her to yell out in pain.

"Rivers!"

"That's what you get for not knowing your place, cur," he responded as she was trying to catch her breath. Turning around, he left the cell and locked it. "Come on Berkley, we're out of here."

"When Regina finds out what you did to me," she wheezed out, "You're going to be in for a hell of a lot of pain."

Both guards raised their eyebrows, "Why would she care what happens to you? We've never even seen you before, so I highly doubt the Queen cares," Berkley scoffed.

"Why wouldn't she care? We're lovers." It was stupid as all hell and she was aware of it. But maybe if she said something incredibly preposterous, it would catch Regina's ear. It wasn't a lie. They were lovers! But well...Just not during this time? Since she wasn't exactly born yet. That made her stop for a few seconds. How old was Regina supposed to be here? Emma hadn't really thought of their age difference all that much, but now she wondered if Regina was secretly over 60. She'd still love her of course, but it would have been a bit weird. Well, their family in general was majorly weird to begin with.

"Well, she's just downright stupid. Let's get out of here, Rivers."

"Hey! I deserve to see her!"

"You're a prisoner," he continued. "You don't deserve anything."

As they walked out, she was left alone. She was in deep trouble if she couldn't see Regina. Not only that, they had her sundial! Without it, she couldn't go back farther into time, or even home. What the hell was she supposed to do? Slumping her head down, she accepted defeat temporarily as she tried to figure out a way to deal with her situation.

If she didn't get a chance to talk to Regina before they decided to execute her, then her journey would have meant nothing at all. It would have been as though they'd just killed a no name peasant who had no affect on history at large. She needed to find a way, any way, to convince those useless guards to let her see the Queen.

She wasn't sure how much time had passed, however her throat began to feel very dry. Those stupid guards! There was a bowl of water in the corner of the cell but her tied up the way she was, there was no possible way she could get to it

"Here you go," the voice of an elderly man let out as she opened her eyes. He was a short man, however he had an air about himself that screamed royalty yet incredibly humble. He put the tip of the bowl to her lips and let her drink. Once she was sated, he let out a smile and began to speak.

"The guards who brought you here mentioned quite an odd statement from you," he raised an eyebrow. "You claim that you're my daughter's lover, yet there are so many issues behind that that I cannot fathom where to start."

"Daughter?" Her eyes widened a bit. "You're Henry? Henry Mills?"

"Oh my. You know who I am," he nodded. "How?"

The likelihood was that if she had this delusion of being in a relationship with Regina, she'd have done all the research necessary to obtain every single information about her. He had come down out of curiosity and interest, but now he wondered if this woman posed a threat to his daughter or not. However, instead of tensing up or sweating in fear, Emma simply let out a quiet smile.

"In the beginning, she wouldn't even mention you. There were things she didn't want to remember about the past. Daniel, Cora, you," before she could continue, he interrupted with wide eyes.

"How do you know of Daniel?" No one should've known. The stableboy didn't even have a family. He'd been lost to the world by Cora's hands and the only ones who knew were Regina, Cora and himself. So how did this woman know Daniel?

"Regina spoke of him. I mean, it took a bunch of coaxing but she finally opened up. She was super reserved in the past. Though, I mean she also hated me because of Henry."

Now he looked at her completely confused, "Pardon?"

"Oh. Not you Henry. Our son Henry. I had a son and she adopted him and then a bunch of stuff happened and we fought and argued a ton. But in the end, we fell in love and ended up being a couple. Oh, adopted is sort of like, I couldn't take care of Henry so she took care of him in my place."

The elderly man nodded slowly, trying to process all the potential nonsense this woman was speaking.

"You have no idea what I'm saying do you?" She sighed, but then it hit her. She knew of a way to prove to him that they really were a couple. "Hey, in my left pocket, there's this device. Could you take it out?"

Henry had an old school mentality, in that he felt uncomfortable touching a woman who wasn't his wife, however with a ton of prodding, Emma finally convinced him to just take the damn phone out of her pocket.

"Okay, now press on the button in the center," she nodded as his finger moved slowly.

His eyes widened in shock as light emanated from the strange device, showing a very heartwarming picture of the prisoner, a young boy and...Regina? All smiling. How could that be? She looked different with shorter hair but that was most certainly his Regina. His sweet daughter. What did this mean?

"Now can I see the Queen?"

"I-I will go talk to her," he responded not sure what was going on. Maybe she was in a relationship with a Regina from another dimension. Because quite frankly? That was the only possible solution. He put the phone back in her pocket and ran to the Queen.

Emma wasn't sure how much time had passed, however she was clearly dozing off until the sound of sharp footsteps brought her back to reality a bit.

"I find it hard to believe that my lover would be a poor peasant woman," the mocking voice let out, putting emphasis on the last word.

Opening her eyes, the blonde stared at the woman behind the cell bars who had a raised eyebrow.

"I wasn't going to give much attention to a random prisoner, however I was told that you came with this," she lifted the sundial in her hand. "I couldn't let you die without getting a few answers. But then I heard about this nonsense about being your lover and I just had to come see you. Father said you knew our family. That you knew Daniel. Who exactly are y-" She couldn't finish. The woman chained in the cell...Her cheeks were stained with tears. She was crying.

"Yes, yes. We all get emotional while on death row."

Emma shook her head, "It's not that." She sniffled. "You just look so healthy. So strong. I haven't seen you like that in a while."

"I haven't seen you period." She disappeared and magically reappeared in the cell, shoving the sundial into Emma's face. "I don't have all day. What is this?"

"It helped me time travel."

"First the whole lovers charade, and now time travel. Child, you have no idea what I'm capable of do you?"

"Am I lying?"

"Excuse me? What kind of question is that?"

Emma was being stupid, she knew that. Everything she said and did would more likely than not alter the future in some way. But it didn't matter. If altering the future meant she wouldn't exist anymore, then it would be the sacrifice to pay if Regina would be healed. She didn't want to do this to Henry, and it wasn't a fair choice at all, but Emma felt as though she was stuck between a rock and a hard place. Henry had hope that Emma would pull through and save everyone. Emma had agreed that that was what would happen. But now, a prisoner in her lover's cells, she was beginning to think that might not be all that possible. So she tried her hand.

"In the future, you can always tell when I'm lying, Regina."

"Isn't that rather cozy of you. Who said you could call me by my name?"

Alright. She'd sate the queen. "My apologies, your Majesty."

There was something in this woman that was annoying Regina, it was obvious. Claiming to be from the future? Claiming to have been her lover? What nonsense!

"My left pocket. Rummage through it, you'll find some proof."

Of course, Regina being Regina, simply used magic to lift everything on Emma's body. Out came a cell phone, wallet and gum. What? Where was her gun? Had she lost it when she'd arrived? Things were clearly looking up for her weren't they?

Emma pointed to the phone with her chin. It slowly levitated into the Queen's hand. "Press the circle button in the middle."

The Queen sighed and did as she was told. The blonde wasn't certain of what she was expecting, but Regina didn't fail to deliver. She didn't scream or call her a heathen or anything. She merely stared at the screen for a good minute until she lifted her head to look at Emma.

"Release her," she whispered. "And take her to my chambers."

"Your Majesty, are you certain?" One of the guards asked in a worried tone.

Glaring at him, she seethed, "Would I give you an order if I wasn't?!"

Truthfully, the men working for her were all completely stupid and useless. She needed to find smarter men like the Huntsman, who at the same time, weren't as stupid as him. But before that, she had to take care of a few things. Like getting answers as to why she was quite clearly being shown on the strange device with the prisoner and a young boy. She couldn't however help but admit that something in her had stirred at the sight of the boy, which made absolutely no sense since she'd never seen him before.

She concluded more so to herself that the blonde woman was from a parallel universe with an entirely different Regina. Why did she come to that conclusion? Because there was no way in hell Regina would ever have a happy ending. Not in this world. But the woman on the screen, smiling? She had definitely gotten her happy ending.

It didn't make Regina angry. She simply felt empty. However, as she took the slow steps back to her chambers, she couldn't help but wonder how any self of her could have ended up in a relationship with a woman. She'd never even thought of it. She supposed it wasn't a terrible idea. Women , in the Enchanted Forest at least, tended to be less smelly than men, and their company was much more appreciated. Then again, the Queen didn't actually have any friends to begin with.

Once at her chambers, the guards uncuffed the prisoner. They left the room as Regina slowly began walking around, having a conversation in her mind. In a split second however, before she could react , she was shoved down on the grand bed with both her arms pinned above her.

"What on earth is the meaning of this?! Unhand me-" She was silenced by a soft yet rough pair of lips claiming her own. As Emma slowly pulled back, lessening the grip she had on her future lover's hands, she whispered, "There's something I need to t-".

Before she could finish, she was thrown back to the wall by a very, very, very angry queen. If looks could kill? Emma would have been dead right then and there.

And that's when she realized how stupid she had been. Playing around with fire was always a mistake. For some stupid reason, she'd thought that Regina would have reacted more to the kiss and maybe in some miraculous 'everything is possible with magic' way, a connection could have been established between Queen Regina and Future Regina. Of course, things never really worked out that well for Emma Swan.

She swallowed as she took a good look at who her lover used to be. A fireball in her hand, the Queen let out with an angry glare, "It was nice knowing you, peasant."

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><p><strong>AN**: That's the end of that chapter. I hope you ejoyed! R&R is appreciated.


	3. A Love Filled Memory

**A/N:** Omg. Did you guys watch the season 4 premiere?! That scene! That scene! In the Mayor's office! The knee hugging scene! I won't say anymore, but you better know what I'm talking about! Near the end! THE FEELS WERE REAL! TOO REAL! It made me fangirl.

Anyways! Here's chapter 3. If you guys wanna talk about that premier with me, you can drop me a PM!

Enjoy the chapter!

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><p>"W-wait. Regina, please. Please wait!"<p>

She moved to her knees, her head touching the marbled floor. She had to do it. She had no choice. This wasn't her lover, this was the Queen. And the only way to appease the Queen was to give her what she wanted...for now.

"I'll do whatever you want, anything! Really. So please put that fireball away. I'm not really that great as ash," she'd try to buy some time. If she couldn't convince Regina not to kill her, then she'd have to use light magic which would only have the Queen question her even more. She had no choice. There was no way she could accomplish anything with this Regina. She needed the sundial and she needed to go back farther into time.

The Queen raised an eyebrow as she stared at the blonde. "You're going to tell me about the future. Every single detail. And then, I'll decide what to do with you."

Emma gulped. She was so screwed. Major changes to the future were more than likely inevitable at this stage. She knew that if she was in Storybrooke right now, Regina would have killed her ten times over.

"Y-you know, that's not really a good idea. If you knew about the future, things would change, a lot. To the point where some people would cease to exist. Do you really want that? Heh..hehe..." She gulped once more, as beads of sweat crawled down her back.

"Does it look like I care?" Extinguishing the fireball in her hand, with a flick of her finger, Emma was now floating a bit too high for comfort.

"Come on, Regina! Be reasonable!"

"Oh, I'm quite reasonable, peasant who has yet to give me her name," she responded cheekily as she looked up at the woman she was making float.

"You never asked!"

"I am Queen. I do not ask. I command."

"Well you never commanded! Regina, put me down!"

The Queen was getting irritated, Emma could tell as veins were threatening to pop from her forehead.

"It's YOUR MAJESTY!"

She yelled out as she dropped her finger, causing Emma to fall very rapidly from the ceiling.

"Stop! Stop! STOOOOOOOOP! YOUR MAJESTY! YOUR MAJES-" She stopped right as her body was going to hit the marbled ground, which more than likely would have caused her to be squished to death. Letting her fall gently on the floor, Regina walked towards her getting down on one knee and lifting the blonde's chin up with her finger.

"That's much better," she sneered. "Now, your name?"

"Emma Swan," she whispered, looking away. Regina's gaze was making her feel...strange. It was as though butterflies were in her stomach and she couldn't understand why.

"Well then Miss Swan, I think it's time for you to tell me all about our lovely future together."

But before Emma could utter a single word, a huge wave of exhaustion hit her. She couldn't understand why, but all she suddenly wanted was to crawl into bed and sleep. As darkness began to envelop her mind, all she could think of was Regina, her Regina.

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><p>"I'm back," the exhausted mayor let out as she slumped into bed with her satin top and black slacks still on, joining Emma.<p>

"Hey, rough day?" The blonde replied through her reading glasses, as she turned to look at her lover.

"Some of these citizens are going to be the death of me, I swear it. Those dwarfs. Oh god, those dwarfs. I want to set every single one of them on fire," she yawned out.

Placing the laptop on the bedside table next to her, Emma moved the bed sheets to let Regina in. She then opened her arms to welcome the older woman into them. Regina slowly moved and rested her head on the blonde's chest. "I missed you," the Queen whispered, being rewarded with a gentle kiss on her lips.

"I missed you too. I hate it when you have to work overtime. You should be able to leave whenever you want!"

"Yes, well, I can. I just find it more efficient to get work done as soon as possible," she spoke, not moving her head from its place. Though Emma did have smaller breasts than she did, Regina found them unbelievably soft and comfortable, to the point that she would often use her lover's chest as a pillow.

"You're such a workaholic!"

"Says the person writing up police reports in my bed."

Emma let out a huge 'Oops, you caught me' grin. "Don't mind me, Sheriff. You have work to do," Regina whispered as she closed her eyes, moving her head a bit to the side so that Emma had room to do a bit of work on her laptop.

The blonde, thankful for the consideration, lifted her right leg up enough to place the laptop on it for support. Using her other hand to cradle her lover, she placed a kiss on top of her head and went back to typing away with one hand. It was a bit difficult, but she didn't mind. Feeling Regina's warmth, her even breathing, her quiet mumbles. She was so grateful for what she had.

Though they had started off on opposite sides, and though Regina had found countless ways to make her stay in Storybrooke a living hell, they had fought the odds and had fallen in love. Emma herself couldn't even believe how much Regina had changed. But then, she reckoned that the woman in her arms at that moment was the real Regina. She had always been there, but Cora had sealed her away. Daniel's death had locked the good person Regina had been. Instead, she was replaced by a borderline copy of her mother, deep down, always fighting with herself. Always trying to figure out the right from the wrong, the selfishness from the selflessness.

Emma loved this woman with all her being, and though Cora was no longer around, she could never forgive her for all the pain and suffering she'd put her own daughter through. Regina didn't deserve any of it. All she had wanted was for her own happily ever after and it was ripped away from her by someone who should have supported her. So Emma hoped, Emma wished that she could give Regina the happily ever after she deserved. Because if anyone deserved even an ounce of a happy ending? It was Regina.

Closing the lid of her laptop, she put it on the bedside table. Removing her glasses, she blindly placed them on top of the lid. Shutting off the lamp, she turned around to be closer to her lover, one hand on her head, the other on the small of her back, bringing them closer to each other as humanly possible. Having Regina in her arms was more than likely the best feeling in the world. Her lover was a drug, and Emma was addicted. She placed a kiss on her lover's head as she closed her eyes and let sleep overtake her. She was as happy as could be, and given the peaceful look on Regina's face, she knew her lover was as well.

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><p>She grunted as she opened her eyes, an ungodly headache overtaking her.<p>

"Damn it, Ruby. Did you add more shots? I told you Regina doesn't like it when I'm drunk," she shook her head, slowly getting up on the bed. Looking around however, she quickly noticed that she wasn't anywhere in Storybrooke.

"Oh, right. Well, shit," she cursed with a sigh as her headache intensified.

"Aha! I see you're awake!" A very familiar, very annoying voice let out as she turned to look at them.

Yep. She was right.

"Rumplestiltskin..."

"Oh my. She knows me! I feel rather popular all of a sudden!" He cackled manically. She did not miss seeing this version of Mr. Gold, that much was obvious.

Her eyes made contact with the Queen's, who simply looked back to the imp. "Well? Will you help or not?"

"Give me the sun dial! Hehehe!"

"Out of the question. Do you even know what it's for?"

"Quite frankly, if this lovely lady is saying the truth, then I won't be much interested in it will I?"

"Then why on earth would you want it?"

"YOU want the truth. You don't believe blondie over there. And given her mind could be full of biases, that!" He pointed to the sundial, "That! Can tell us if she's saying the truth or not!"

"I don't trust you."

"Oh but my dear Regina! You don't need to trust me! You can do it yourself! If you do in fact exist in the future of hers, you'll be able to tell if she's saying the truth or not!"

"And how exactly?" She was skeptical. You never trusted the Dark One. He always had something up his sleeve.

"If what she's saying is in fact true, then we can assume that she used your future self as the catalyst to come here. Which means the sundial had to pierce you and absorb your blood."

"So you DO know what this is?" Regina seethed. She hated how the imp made things unnecessarily cryptic and complicated.

"Yes yes, details details. Anyways! Pierce your finger on the sundial and you can be temporarily transported to your future self's body."

"Are you out of your mind?!" Emma roared as she got up off the bed only to be too dizzy and fall back down. "You...You can't do that! Do you know how much of the future would change if you SAW your own future?!"

"Because you being here isn't affecting the future as we speak?" The imp giggled. "Dearie, what kind of person do you fall for? A donkey? She seems pretty stupid."

"Mind yourself, Rumple. I am not in the mood for games," she looked to Emma who was staring right at her. She had a different look than earlier. A look of longing. Regina knew that look all too well. Nostalgia.

"You dreamt of something."

Her eyes widening a bit, the blonde looked away. She missed Regina so much.

"Not a dream. A memory."

"Well then, we can use that!" Rumple exclaimed as he stole the sundial from the Queen's hand and walked towards the blonde.

"Give that back! It's mine!"

"Actually, Your Majesty," she looked at the Queen, "It's mine. Your guards took it from me, and I'd appreciate having it back." For some reason, she was once again having a hard time keeping her eyes open. What the hell was going on?

"Aha. Dearie, how often have you been time traveling? I hope you know it's not good for you! Honestly, you might as well force us to drown memory potions now given how much you've probably tampered with every- Oh. She fell back asleep. Huh. How boring," he sighed in disappointed, as Emma had in fact fallen back asleep.

"Ignore her, and give me answers."

"Your answers lie with her actually, so I think you might want to brace yourself for whatever you're about to see."

He took the sundial and placed it in front of the Queen, waiting for her to pierce herself. "Don't worry. Even if you behave differently, you won't be changing anything over there. You're viewing something that's already happened, ironically enough, however, as a participant. It'll be fun! Now, sit down on the bed. I don't feel like carrying your dead weight body once you fall asleep."

Rolling her eyes, she sat next to Emma's sleeping form. She pierced herself and as her blood mixed with that of her future self's, she slowly drifted off to sleep.

* * *

><p>Opening her eyes, she noticed that she was not in her palace anymore. In fact, she had no idea where she was. It was a very strange looking house if you could call it that. She looked around, noting it was relatively big, and very very white. Was this supposed to be her house? Having inspected the lower floor, she realized that her body was extremely exhausted for some reason. That's when it came to mind to look at herself. Viewing her clothes in a large mirror, she was surprised. Did the future really have such odd clothes? They were comfortable that was for certain, but so, so different. Irrelevant, she thought. She needed to figure out what was going on and to confirm whatever that Emma Swan woman had said. She just couldn't believe that she would have fallen in love with a woman. As she began to climb the stairs, she took note of the pictures hanging on the walls. They were of the boy the blonde had shown her on that odd contraption of hers. Once at the top of the stairs, she noticed a very familiar blonde woman in the picture, with her and the boy, all sitting on a bench together. She raised an eyebrow. Maybe she wasn't lying after all.<p>

But that didn't mean she'd just accept it and move on. Once on the second floor, she looked around and starting opening a few doors here and there. One was a bathroom, the other an empty room, she found storage, a huge closet. She went to another door and opened it up only to notice it belonged to someone. A young boy she reckoned given the colors of the bed sheets and the overall feel of the room. She guessed it belonged to the boy in the pictures. But it was empty. She wondered if the boy was still around.

Getting to the last door in the hallway, it was partially open. She pushed it forward a bit more and saw Emma Swan in the flesh. She was still blonde as ever, in a tank top, her lower body hiding under the bed sheet, some weird contraption being balanced on her thigh

Raising her head from her computer screen, Emma looked to her lover.

"Hey, rough day?"

The Queen nodded, unsure of what to say.

"Come here," the blonde replied, patting the bed, as she closed the lid of the laptop and placed it aside.

Regina cautiously walked towards the woman. "Where is the boy?" She whispered awkwardly, unsure of how to say it without raising suspicion, even though the imp had mentioned to not worry about it.

"Henry? He's at Mary Margaret's for the night. Said he wanted her to help him with his homework."

Regina simply nodded once more.

"Hey, are you okay?"

"Hmm? Ah, yes. My apologies. I'm just a bit tired."

"C'mon. Get in bed."

"Ah, I should change into my nightwear," she eyed around the room, only to be swiftly grabbed by her waist and pulled to the bed.

"Oooooor, I could just take them off for you," the blonde grinned through her glasses.

"H-how uncouth of you! Get your hands off of me!"

Emma raised an eyebrow as she wrapped her arms tighter around her lover, "What? Babe, you okay? You're speaking like you're in some medieval era..." And that's when it hit her. "Oh crap. Are we role playing the Evil Queen and the Savior? Hmmm, I don't really mind, but you look a bit too tired for roleplay."

"What on earth are you talking about?! Unhand me this instant, pleb!"

Emma's eyes sparkled. Regina really wanted to play, didn't she? Pushing her down on the bed, she quickly jumped into position, hovering on top of her. "I don't get it. The things you say and the way you look are too different things. Regina, are you okay?" Her lover looked extremely exhausted, barely being able to stay awake. So why was she acting all weird?

"Babe, if something's wrong, talk to me," she moved off of her, going back to her previous position. "Come on," she patted once more as Regina simply looked at her. The older woman nodded for the third time, but this was incredibly slow, almost unnoticeable. She rested her head on the blonde's shoulder, however the savior quickly brought the woman's head to rest on her chest. Emma turned around to face her, bringing their bodies as close as possible to each other, one hand on her lover's head, the other resting on the small of her back.

"I'm here, Regina," she whispered. "No matter what is bothering you, you can always talk to me. I will never leave your side, you know that, right?"

The woman merely muttered, "Mmm," as sleep was slowly overtaking her. It was odd. The love she felt...it felt stronger than what she'd had with Daniel. It felt more real, more raw.

"I love you," the blonde whispered, causing silent tears to fall from the dark haired woman's eyes. Those three words...She hadn't heard those three words in a very long time. Her mother would whisper them, but they weren't real. Cora was always selfish, only caring for herself. But this, this was different. It felt so...real. So truthful. The woman holding her really did love her. She couldn't understand why. Regina knew full well that she no longer had any redeeming qualities. Maybe her looks, but this woman wasn't shallow. She had seen something in Regina. She had given her a chance, and that's all she ever wanted apparently.

"I love you too, Miss Swan," she replied very quietly as Emma snickered, "You really are acting weird tonight, haha."

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><p>She opened her eyes and looked around. Rumplestiltskin had vanished, though strangely enough he'd left the sundial with her. But she didn't much care for the imp at the moment. Looking next to her, she noticed the blonde still sleeping. On top of her lay a single piece of paper that the Queen took. There were only three words inked on it, 'True Love's Kiss'.<p>

What on earth did that mean? Looking at the peacefully sleeping woman, she noticed that she was not in fact peaceful. Her blonde hair was sticking in parts to her face as she had begun sweating. Her hands were gripping the sheets tightly, as though trying to break free of something. She was having a nightmare, and for some reason, Regina knew that she couldn't just nudge her awake. This woman was an idiot, that much she had established. But there was some force drawing her to the blonde. Something she couldn't explain. Was it that dream she'd had of the future? Was it the woman's touch? How her words had found place in her heart? She had no idea. But what she did know was that Emma wouldn't be waking up on her own anytime soon.

She placed her hand on the whitened knuckles. They had a strange calming effect on the woman next to her, whose thrashing stopped. The Queen felt as though her body was moving on its own. She used her free hand to gently move some strands of blond hair off of the sleeping woman's face as she slowly brought their lips together.

It took all but a mere instance. Emma gasped awake, startling the Queen who tried to recompose herself. The blonde looked to the person who had just kissed her. Regina was looking away, a clear blush on her face. She seemed pretty out of character which was odd...But at the same time, incredibly cute.

"Hey," Emma whispered, and that's when she realized it. She didn't feel tired anymore. She'd had no idea what that sudden exhaustion was, but all of a sudden, it had vanished. Was it Regina's kiss? Did true love's kiss cure whatever was wrong with her?

"Emma," Regina let out quietly as she turned back to look at the resting woman.

Her future self was happy with this woman, she knew it. Whatever Emma had done for her, she didn't know. But it had to have been huge enough to cause her to change. So if Emma in the future had in some way given Regina her happy ending, she could do it in the past too, couldn't she? The Queen was unhappy. Deep down, she was incredibly unhappy. And she had to be honest with herself. She had no idea what she had seen in this woman. From the little time she'd spent with her both in her current time and in the future, nothing was all that special about Emma Swan. And yet, and yet. There was something drawing Regina to her. She knew. Regina knew full well that this woman would die for her. She didn't deserve it, she knew this. But she didn't care. This woman loved her. Someone, aside from her father, actually loved her. She'd make the most of it. She'd get her happy ending right then and there!

She moved on the bed, blanketing herself over Emma. She hadn't bedded anyone in quite a while, so towering over a potential lover was exciting.

Emma didn't push her away. She simply looked at her with interest. What had happened to mellow the Queen out? Did it matter though? The kiss that woke her up reminded her so much of home.

"Your Majesty," the blonde let out breathily, Regina slowly leaning in. As their lips touched, the Queen knew. Emma Swan belonged with her.

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><p><strong>AN:** That's the end of that. Hope you enjoyed. R&R is appreciated. Until next time!


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